Practical information

Our selection of practical info will garante you to start your trip to Amsterdam well prepared. The selection on this page is based on the most common information for tourist. Since there is almost to much practical information, we made a selection for this specific page. Which is based on the most popular information for tourist and new visitors of Amsterdam. When you have a more specific question. Just take a quick look to our Frequent asked questions on the FAQ-page.
Lastly, we like to add that there are many Amsterdam Visitor Information Centres spread in Amsterdam. The professionals are ready to help you!

list with most common practical info

In this list, you find a quick overview of the most common practical info topics.

emergency number: call 112 in case of a life-threatening situation. You get directly in though with a contributor for the police or fire department.

Dutch languages: in the Netherlands people speak Dutch. Nevertheless, almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English very well. Which means that you can get easy along with basic English. Other languages that are well spoken by many Dutch people are French and German.

Vehicle renting: One of the best ways to discover Amsterdam is by bike. There are several bike rental shops in Amsterdam where you can rent one for a certain time. This also counts for renting a scooter. When you plan to rent a car, we only recommend this when you prefer to see more of The Netherlands instead of just Amsterdam. Public transport is a better way to get around.

Money and currency: the Euro (EUR, €) is used in the entire country, just like in the most countries in Europe. This means that you need to change your money to Euro’s. Or just use your domestic bank card at one of the many atm’s. Of course, you can use a credit card in many places, think of hotels, small shops, paying for activities. Note: don’t forget that the chance is big that you will pay for an extra charge (2-6%) when you pay by credit card a passport might be required. In general, we recommend you to carry euro’s in cash with you, to make sure that your money is accepted and to avoid unnecessary additional costs.

Discount cards: The most common used discount cards for Amsterdam are the: Amsterdam Holland Pass, I Amsterdam City Card and the Museumkaart.

Visiting Amsterdam with children: Amsterdam is considered a very safe city. Although, the is a lot of traffic, and many people are not stopping consequent for traffic lights. Some locals are using the term ‘Amsterdam green’ for a red traffic light. This said, there are plenty of activities to do with young children or nearly-grownups.